Fuel Gas Production by Plasma in a Microwave Oven at Atmospheric Pressure

The purpose of this research is to develop a process to use plasma decomposition of hydrocarbon liquids or clathrate hydrates in a microwave oven to produce fuel gas while simultaneously solidifying the carbon and synthesizing it into useful carbonized materials, such as CNTs or activated charcoal. Hydrogen gas with a purity of 60% to 80% can be extracted using a conventional microwave oven. This means that the energy efficiency of hydrogen production using this method is estimated to be approximately 50% of that by electrolysis of alkaline water and approximately 1% of that by the natural gas steam reforming method. However, this process has the added benefit of producing solid carbon at the same time. This method can be applied to a wide variety of waste liquids, or hydrate. Surplus electrical energy could be used to process waste liquids from homes and factories, and the resulting hydrogen energy could be stored and used.